Ordinary Life
by a thousand facets
Summary: What happens if Rose and the Doctor never developed feelings for one another? What happens if we throw someone else into the mix? What happens if we turn their world upside down? M for language
1. A Strange Beginning

As I walked out of my apartment in New York, I heard a noise. And New York sure has a lot of noises, but this was something I'd never heard before. I walked around the corner and saw a strange blue box sitting there. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a police box. And while I knew what that was from my high school social studies courses, I also knew that they belonged in the UK, which made me suspicious.

I've always been the curious sort, so even though I was _supposed _to be on my way to a lecture in my university – Ithaca – I decided to check in and around it. I didn't know what it was doing here or why, but I knew I was damn well going to find out.

I had always loved the whole deduction – mystery thing, and while musical theatre was what I was going into, I had done a couple courses the year before when I was in university in Ann Arbor on figuring things out and such.

I walked around it three times, checking for any sort of notes or any sort of trick wire.

Okay, nothing.

Then I walked up to the front doors and tried to open them. Locked? Okay, still weird, but not overly weird.

I pulled a hair pin out of my hair and went to work. And I am not going into why I know how to pick locks because it is a long story that would probably get me arrested.

It took a little bit longer than usual, but eventually I felt the lock click into place and the door swung open.

Oh. This made it interesting.

I backed up and walked around the box again, running my hands over it this time to make sure there was no trick of the eyes, to make sure that what I was seeing was a trick of science, a trick of space, or a trick of magic.

And sure enough there was nothing there.

Did I mention before that I have and have always had an overactive sense of curiosity? Well, I'm sure it'll be the downfall of me.

I took a breath and walked into the box, finding myself surrounded by a room even bigger than I'd originally thought, and other corridors and pathways leading through it.

I closed the door and locked it behind me and started walking around, observing, but not touching. I did not know what anything here did, so I would not make it do anything.

I looked at all of the buttons and levers and lights surrounding the center console and I could feel a certain sense of danger, that some of these buttons and levers weren't to be touched. I also felt something was alive in there. I didn't know why, but I did. Something living in the whole of the box.

I shook my head to cast out these odd feelings and decided to explore the corridors.

Down them I found many rooms and many alcoves. I found a huge library that was about 5 stories high and full of beautiful books. I found a room that held tons of fireplaces and had a pineapple shaped object in the middle of it but instead of normal colours, the pineapple was blue-green. I found a room full of fur cloaks that went deeper than I dared to explore because I didn't want to get lost. And I found a room that looked like it belonged to a young woman, late teens to early twenties, which I quickly exited, not wanting to intrude on anyone's privacy.

Eventually I wandered my way back to the main room, where I found a large chair and a footrest and I settled down to read a book I had found in the library, entitled, 'Gallifreyen Architecture.' It seemed odd and alien and…

Oh.

That explains it.

I shrugged and kept reading.

After I had read through about half the book I heard the sound of a girl laughing outside and I repressed a nervous, excited smile about what I was about to do.

I heard a whirring noise and the doors opened slowly to reveal a man and a young woman. The woman had blonde, jaw length hair, and was wearing a blue leather jacket with jeans. The man had spiked up hair and was wearing a pinstriped jacket and glasses, holding a strange little flashy device to his bottom lip as he jabbered on about something called a Tulak to the girl.

"Uh, Doctor…" She said, looking straight at me, her London accent obvious to my Canadian ears.

"No, but really Rose, they are quite magnificent creatures. Maybe that's where we should go next…" his voice seemed to rest somewhere between a London accent and Scottish.

"Doctor…" She smirked a little and pulled on his arms.

"Honestly Rose, and so many creatures are trying to take them as pets but they're pretty much more intelligent than anyone else in their galaxy and –"

"Doctor!" She grabbed his head and turned it so that he was looking right at me.

"Oh."

"Hello." I said smirking, legs outstretched, doing my best not to show any of the butterflies or adrenaline running through me.

"Um…how did you get in –?"

"Picked the lock."

"Um, but I…"

"Hello, Doctor, is it?"

"Yes?"

"Is that a question?"

"No! Of course not."

The girl rose was looking back and forth between us like this was the best thing that she'd ever seen. She grinned at me when she saw me looking, encouraging me to continue.

"So…how's your day going?"

"Um…pretty good."

"Enjoying your visit to our planet?"

"Wait what?"

"You heard me, Time Lord."

"What?" He looked at me, and then to Rose. "What?" And then back again. "What? _What?!_"

Rose, at this point, was killing herself laughing.

I held up the book and cleared my throat. "Ahem. The Time Lords of Gallifrey have been known for their many unique and clever architectural quirks, one of which being the phenomenon of having spaces that are bigger on the inside." I swept my arm up and around to gesture to the room. "And this would be your time machine, would it not?"

"That's in the book too, isn't it? Don't think yourself clever."

"No, actually, that's just what I gathered from the console."

"Wait, _how_ did you get in here?"

"I told you, picked the lock."

"But…but…but it's a TARDIS lock."

I smirked at him.

Rose laughed again. "Oh, Doctor, I like her, can we keep her."

"Why do you like her?"

"Because she made you look like a babbling idiot." She laughed again and I laughed and walked up to me. "Hi, I'm Rose." She stuck out her hand and I sat up and shook it.

I laughed. "I'm Ami. Like Sammy without the 'S.' How are you?"

"Quite well. We just blew up a building."

"Oh, _fun_." I laughed.

"So um, yeah, you'd hear about that on the news except that you're coming with us now. If you want, I mean."

"I didn't say-" The Doctor's voice jumped up several octaves.

"Oh come on Doctor, you've invited plenty of girls along and mostly just because they're pretty, don't I get one?" Rose turned and begged.

I wasn't sure what was going on but it seemed to be a normal thing for them so I let it be.

"Oh, fine." The Doctor shrugged, but I saw something in his eyes, like the hint of a smile.

"Ami, would you like to come travel across time and space and go wherever you want?"

"Um, yeah, okay." I said recklessly. "Can I pick up some clothing from my apartment first?"

"Yeah, okay, but I'm going to come with you because he won't take off then."

The Doctor seemed to pout a little bit.

"And then, Doctor, can we go see Mickey?"

"You and your boyfriend…" He rolled his eyes.

A sassy one, I see.

"Yes, me and my boyfriend. We'll be right back."

She took my hand and pulled me out of the – what had he called it? – the TARDIS.

I heard the doors close behind us and I led her up to my apartment in the building directly next to it. She collapsed on my small chair laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked as I pulled out a hiking backpack from my closet and started packing up things I thought I would want and/or need.

"You don't know how brilliant that was! The Doctor's always babbling on about 'stupid apes' and talking about scientific things and whenever anyone asks what he's talking about he looks at whoever asked like they had just drooled on their shirt!"

"So?" I asked, packing in a bundle of my favourite t-shirts.

"Oh, by the way the Doctor has a huge closet full of outfits from every planet for every era. You don't have to bring anything that you think you'll need to fit in, just bring what you want."

"Okay, thanks." I smiled gratefully at her and skimmed through half my closet before adding any more clothes.

"And, well, you made _him _the babbling child, the one who couldn't understand what was going on. It was _brilliant_! I would've paid good money to see that and there you were, sitting in the TARDIS. God, I like you!"

I laughed, flattered. "I like you too, I think we're going to have a lot of fun…so are you and the Doctor…you know…?"

She laughed. "Oh dear God, no! No!" She laughed. "I have Mickey and no, never, he's just…he's like a brother, that's it. Of course, I happen to think that you, with your sass, would make a very good match for him."

I laughed, packing up the few things I wanted that weren't clothes and shouldered the bag. "Okay, ready to go….where are we going exactly?"

She smiled cheekily at me. "Well, first we're off to London so I can see Mickey and my mum, and then….then who knows?"

I smiled. "Okay then."

And off down the stairs we went, giggling like school children, down to the TARDIS. And the Doctor, to whom I covered up the giggling girl act again, and then…off to who knows where.


	2. The Start of a Journey

**A/n: Okay, this is kind of a filler chapter but it has some information that needs to be in here. There might be a couple filler chapters but I promise that I'm not just doing them to increase the word count. They have a purpose.**

**Also, thank you anyone that's reading this, I really appreciate it. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

I stopped for a moment in front of the TARDIS, taking a deep breath to compose myself. Everything up until this moment had been just pure adrenaline, pure recklessness, but now the reality of what I was doing was sinking in. I was beginning to realize that I didn't know this man or this other girl…and yet despite my ignorance, my little knowledge on these people, I didn't want to turn back.

I thought to myself, biting my lip, that in fifty years, I wanted to be able to say that I had the courage to get into this strange blue box, that I had had the guts to go with these two.

But even so, even though I knew my mind was made up, I was still scared.

Rose saw the look on my face and seemed to already know what I was thinking. She took me and turned me so we were facing each other, and she put her hands on my arms, held stiffly by my side, comforting, like she understood. "I was just like you. I was just a girl who got caught up in one of his schemes by accident. That's why he brought me along. Because I managed to help. And it's been great. Just don't screw everything up and you'll be allowed to stay. I promise. Don't get any chips implanted in your head or anything." She laughed like it had happened before. "Look, it's alright. I honestly was just like you, just a girl in London. Maybe not as clever as you, maybe not as talented at…making the Doctor a bumbling boy, but human, normal. Since then I've seen things that you won't believe until you come traveling with us. You can trust him. You can."

I smiled at her. "I don't trust easily." But nevertheless, I took another deep breath and took that step into the little blue box, not knowing exactly how much it would change my life.

"Ah, hello!" The Doctor cried as we stepped into his view, spinning around and then stopping. "That was odd."

He stood there for a moment with his head tilted to the side. "Well…." He said, drawing it out slightly before shrugging.

"Ah, Rose Tyler!" He exclaimed. "Off home we go!" he hit a lever and the door swung closed behind us. "And Ami Faye, welcome to your first trip in the TARDIS!"

"How do you-"

"Know your last name?" He raised an eyebrow. "I am magic and I –"

I raised my eyebrows.

"Okay, fine, you left your notebook."

I felt my eyes grow wide and rushed to pluck the large, leather notebook out of his hands. It was about the size of a textbook and about the width of the fifth Harry Potter book and filled about half way through with my writing and (terrible) sketches. It was also private.

I brushed off the cover hurriedly but gently, and I could hear the change in his voice as he said, "I only looked at the front cover."

I turned around and saw him standing there, eyes gentle, no lies held in their depths. I've always had a knack for knowing a lie when I heard one.

I breathed. "Okay, but for future reference, nobody looks at this. Ever."

The Doctor nodded, albeit hesitantly. He struck me as a man who didn't have many secrets kept from him. He looked like a man who was used to holding all of the secrets himself. But he nodded, which was good; it wasn't Rose I was worried about.

I pushed down my apprehension – there were things in that book I didn't want anyone seeing. First off, I thought I was an awful artist, and an awful writer. And I didn't want anyone seeing my stories. I hated it when people read my writing like I hated it when people asked to listen to me practicing my music. Just…no. And second of all, I had certain…things that I can sometimes do that I don't need people knowing about. Like knowing who is on the phone before I pick up, or knowing the outcome of a game or competition before it starts, or…yeah.

But I don't talk about that.

I pushed down my apprehension and smiled at the Doctor, deciding that if I was going to go traveling with this stranger, I was going to trust him, if only a little bit. "Okay then. What are we waiting for?"

His face, behind glasses and under spiked hair, broke out into a grin, and with a flick of his pinstriped jacket, he hit three buttons and then looked right at me.

In that moment all that I saw were his eyes: dark, brown, and full of a thousand secrets. Full of contrast, pain and hope, life and death, age and youth. They were powerful. And I think, in the end, it was that look, those eyes, that one moment when he didn't have his guard up, that made me stay.

"Allons-y." He said, a small almost-smirk on his lips, and he pulled the lever his hand had been resting on.

Immediately I was thrown against the rails. I hung on; lips clamped tightly together, trying to withstand the rocking and shaking of the TARDIS as the noise I had heard earlier echoed all around us.

Just as quickly as it started, it lurched to a stop and the noise cut out. Rose dropped to the floor from where she was holding onto the center bit and lay down on her back, laughing, but I held onto the railing, not wanting to let go.

The Doctor walked up to Rose and grinned down at her. "Seems like the old girl was trying to give our new friend a treat!" He held out his hand to her.

She took his hand and he pulled her up with that one hand, throwing her into the air a little bit. Letting out a bit of a yelp as she landed, Rose brushed off her jeans and laughed. "I'll say. Rockiest trip I've felt since…hmm…end of the world?"

I frowned.

"No, no, World War Two. That was worse."

"_Everybody lives_!" Rose called out in a low voice.

"Oi! Don't give me that! What about Jack, Doctor?" His voice when high for the last bit.

"Did you just say 'oi?'" Rose giggled.

"I did not!" The Doctor said indignantly.

"You did too!" She laughed

"I most certainly did not. I am over 900 years old and I have never in my li-"

"Oi! Don't give me that!" A bad quality copy of the Doctor's voice shut him up.

They both looked over at me. "You did." I smirked, holding up the voice recorder.

He looked up at me and his eyes were verging on the dangerous. "You brought this in here, to record us, to learn things so you would know and get rich…"

"No, I brought in my voice recorder because I don't go anywhere without it, because I talk into it and record story and script plot lines, and melodies for songs." I put my hands in my hips.

He stared at me and then in one moment he grabbed something with a light on one end and pointed it at the recorder, creating a whirring noise. Almost instantaneously my voice, in a thousand different recordings, filled the cavern of the inner TARDIS.

I covered my ears. I _hate_ hearing my own voice on tape.

It doesn't help at all though, and I hear my own voice say a million words and hum a thousand melodies. Ew.

The Doctor points the thing at my recorder again and it stops.

Hesitantly, I take my hands off of my ears.

"Okay. Just no more recording anything we do." The Doctor said.

"Sounds fair. What's that?" I ask.

He held it up, and in that moment I notice Rose behind him rolling her eyes dramatically.

"Sonic screwdriver." He said and she mouthed. "Can do pretty much anything."

Then he flipped it up in the air and caught it as she, still behind him, pretended to point it dramatically at the center pillar of the TARDIS center, a serious, slightly angry expression on her face.

I laughed and she straightened up.

"What?" He said, looking at me slightly hurt.

I tried not to laugh but failed and covered my mouth with my hand, accidentally glancing back at Rose.

He spun around to look at her but she wandered back around the TARDIS looking around and whistling 'innocently.'

"Okay, but Doctor, are we in London?" She asked, turning around and brushing her hand over the railing.

"_Yes_, Rose." He sounded exasperated, like he got this every time.

"In the right century?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Of course." He said, but he sounded less sure and glanced at the screen.

"_Doctor?_"

"80/20." He answered.

She raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, fine, 60/40. Just go check!"

She ran to the door and threw them open. "Yup, this is it! Three months after we left, as close as we're going to get, knowing you."

"Hey!" His voice was that of the falsely accused.

She laughed, starting to walk out of the TARDIS.

"Don't get into any trouble!"

"It's London, and it isn't Christmas time! I'll be fine! And if not, I have this!" She called back, walking backwards and holding up a key on a chain.

"See you later!" He called.

She waved and the door swung shut, leaving me alone with the Doctor.

"Hello." He said, and I smiled at how awkward he became all of a sudden.

"What shall we do then, Doctor?" I asked.

"I think we should go on an adventure." He said, regaining his confident and slightly superior air, smirking down at me.

"What do you mean, Mr. Doctor-Sir?" Time Lords don't hold the monopoly on smirking.

"Well, I think…" He said, throwing a lever into position. "That maybe…" He threw his weight into spinning a wheel as hard as he could. "It's time to start." He flicked a switch.

He looked at me again and flicked his eyebrows up. I looked back at him.

I was ready this time and braced myself against the center.

"Ami?"

"Yes Doctor?" I eyed his finger, hovering over a little blue button.

"Come taste the stars."


End file.
